BMA Revives Nordic Program with Olympic-Level Coach

Will Sweetser was recently hired as head nordic coach of the Burke Mountain Academy in East Burke, Vt.

EAST BURKE, Vt. (March 7, 2017) – Burke Mountain Academy is delighted to announce the revival of its Nordic program with the hiring of Will Sweetser as the Head Nordic Coach effective immediately in preparation for the 2017-2018 academic year.

A Dartmouth College graduate, Sweetser has more than two decades of experience as a Nordic coach, having personally overseen the training of athletes who qualified for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 IOC Winter Olympic and Winter Paralympic Games.

His coaching career includes working with both the US Ski Team and the US Biathlon Team as part of the ski service team to FIS Scando Cups, OPA Cups, World Cups, IBU World Junior Championships and IBU World Youth Championships, as well as local coaching experiences with Bates College, Jackson Hole Ski Club, Carrabassett Valley Academy, Rangeley Lakes Nordic and the Maine Winter Sports Center.

“I am truly excited by the opportunity to rebuild Burke Nordic to a position of national prominence,” says Sweetser who also recently founded Mountain Endurance Sports. “In my two decades of coaching, I’ve encountered so many excellent Burke student athletes –including some of my favorite kids from my home state of Maine,” he shares. “Burke is absolutely the right place for my family as I focus on shaping the next generation of outstanding Nordic racers.”

BMA has a long tradition of developing thriving Nordic athletes. Two current US Ski Team racers, Liz Stephen ‘05 and Ida Sargent ‘06, evolved at the academy.

“I’m very excited Will is joining our team to bring the necessary leadership and vision to our revived Nordic program,” tells Jory Macomber, BMA’s Head of School and alumnus from the class of 1980. “BMA’s vision has always been to develop the most complete student-athletes and to aim for delivering world class alpine and Nordic racers. With our amazing training sites and USSA designation, we are in a strong position to offer our students the cutting-edge resources they need to reach their full potential during their highly formative adolescent development years.”

Recently, BMA established a comprehensive partnership with USSA and was recognized as a U.S. Ski Team High Performance Center – in large part thanks to the academy’s superior on snow training venue and new, state-of-art Ronnie Berlack indoor athletic training facility.